Evaluate New Protective Coatings Technology

* What are the best protective coatings for protecting Reclamation's infrastructure?

Reclamation has numerous facilities where metalwork is protected against corrosion by protective coatings. The protective coatings at many facilities are 40 years or older, so many of these coating are reaching or exceeding their intended service life. Many of the coatings Reclamation used prior to 1990 do not meet new regulations for volatile organic compound (VOC) limits. Most do not meet State of California regulations.

Reclamation requires laboratory testing and evaluation of industrial protective coating materials to specify for use in new construction and maintenance. Currently, Reclamation does not have capacity in laboratory and personnel to carry through an exhaustive coatings testing and evaluation program.

Need and Benefit

Reclamation needs a coatings testing and evaluation program. Information from the program is vital to selecting proper coatings that will prevent corrosion on high capital cost structures to reduce maintenance costs.

In January of 2002, Reclamation initiated a contract with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) to obtain existing test data on coatings that meet MWD criteria and to test new technology coatings. MWD test results have shown that 75 percent of the coatings tested failed to meet all the performance requirements as advertised by the manufacturer.

The MWD contract has shown it is less costly to obtain completed test data on VOC compliant coatings than performing a full complement of laboratory tests. By receiving the completed test data and incorporating that into Reclamation coating guide specifications, the coatings can be immediately used by projects.

Contributing Partners

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Research Products

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